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Muni is too big to succeed, needs to do less better and more worse. Muni has no business managing a park.

Dogpatch residents are wondering when the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) will follow through on promises it made when it developed its motor coach facility along Islais Creek, or whether the agency intends to comply at all.

When SFMTA obtained permits to build its facility plans called for an accessible second floor viewing area and public lobby with restrooms that could double as a meeting space. There was to be interior signage paying homage to the area’s waterfront labor history. SFMTA also promised to maintain Shoreline Park, a 40 by 800-foot parklet and promenade between the creek and the bus facility... (more)

Canceled?

There’s much to love about San Francisco—and much to loathe. And to confuse neighborhood ire and frustration with flippant snark would be a disservice to our readers and to the city we adore so deeply. Which is why we’ve asked our handful of industry experts and local notables to thoughtfully weigh in on the areas of San Francisco they had enough of in 2018… (more)

Not many neighborhoods are spared from distain. Most of the least popular are south of Market with SOMA and Market Street leading the pack. Interesting to note that the least appreciated are the ones with the most construction and the worst traffic. Of course the idea that you could even stem the tide of traffic accessing the multi-billion dollar Bay Bridge was always a farce. Until it falls down, it will be the route of choice for connecting the populace to the city. Until the city authorities establish a fast and easy parking process for people driving across that bridge, they will drive across town or whatever it takes to park.

We know that the cost are prohibitive. What isn’t? Our regional MTC and other agencies would rather spend the billions of a new headquarters than help people park to get out of the their cars faster once they arrive. This kind of backward thinking makes SOMA and other points near the bay bridge hostage in the game of traffic control.

A property owner who illegally demolished a 1936 Twin Peaks house designed by a renowned modernist must rebuild an exact replica of the home rather than the much larger structure the property owner had proposed replacing it with, the City Planning Commission ruled this week.

In a unanimous 5-0 vote late Thursday night, the commission also ordered that the property owner — Ross Johnston, through his 49 Hopkins LLC — include a sidewalk plaque telling the story of the original house designed by architect Richard Neutra, the demolition and the replica…

The case attracted attention because Neutra is considered one of the most important modern architects and because it highlighted the trend of speculators illegally razing modest homes with the intention of replacing them with mega-homes…

The decision comes a few days after Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced legislation designed to crack down on illegal demolitions. That bill, the Housing Preservation and Expansion Reform Act, increases fines for illegal demolitions and requires a conditional use authorization for any home expansion that increases the square footage by more than 10 percent.

Peskin said that he was “very impressed” by the Planning Commission’s vote.

“The fact that it was a unanimous vote should send a message to everyone that is playing fast and loose that the game is over,” said Peskin… (more)

Nonprofit leaders seeking consensus come up with a deal: Modest tenant protections in exchange for more market-rate housing and displacement.

With State Sen. Scott Wiener’s new housing bill now pending, a group convened by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has released a draft plan to solve the region’s housing crisis – and some of its key conclusions are linked to Wiener’s vision.

The group has spent the past 16 months trying to come up with what it calls a grand compromise, a Bay Area “Compact” that brings together the best practices and ideas from around the country. The concept, released in draft form this week, is designed around three concepts: Producing new housing, preserving existing affordable housing, and protecting vulnerable communities… (more)

A controversial mental-health bill that entered the State Senate earlier this year may have found its home in San Francisco. SB 1045, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, would grant authorities the right to take away someone’s rights if they are frequent users of the city’s hospital, jail, and psychiatric wards.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced a local bill nearly identical to Wiener’s at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. Under the legislation, a person would meet the new conservatorship criteria if they are homeless and are a high utilizer of emergency departments, have a history of frequent incarceration due to behavior resulting from severe mental illness or a substance-abuse disorder, or a history of 5150 holds…

But despite the support of many politicians, the bill has failed to win the support of many of the aforementioned “stakeholders,” including independent health centers and homelessness organizations in S.F. Some adamantly oppose it… (more)